The novel opens with Bob Marley at the concert for Independence Day in Zimbabwe. He is disoriented and his illusions of grandeur with the African people have been dismantled after he has witnessed African police beating on their own people because of the chaos at the concert to see him.

The life of Marcus Garvey is covered next. Garvey is partly responsible for bringing Rastafarianism to the islands and in particular for his pro-African sentiments. Called a genius of media manipulation, Garvey was mistakenly famous in 1914 for saying "Look to Africa, for the crowning of a Black King; He shall be the Redeemer." These statements set the stage for what will be one of the founding tenants of Rastafariansim, which feels that Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was a prophet for the black people. With his arrival as the new king of Ethiopia...